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PRECIOUS METALS rose across the board Thursday morning, extending yesterday's sharp jump in New York trade, with Gold Trading at its highest Dollar price since mid-November.

The quantity of physical gold held to back the $70 billion SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) last night remained unchanged, however, from both Wednesday morning and a week ago.

Today marks expiry for March options on US Gold Futures, with the bulk of interest between $1750 and $1800 per ounce.

"The outlook remains bullish with a further gap up today," says a London dealer today, noting the Dollar-price jump above $1780 seen at the start of European Gold Trading.

"[Relative strength] is confirming the trend," said last night's chart analysis from Scotia Mocatta, adding that other technical indicators have given a "buy signal" and saying "There is good support at 1749.

UK mortgage-lending and wholesale business also pointed higher, while the giant Royal Bank of Scotland – four-fifths owned by the state after near-collapse in 2008 – reported a £2 billion loss for 2011 ($3.1bn), more than half of which came from writing down the value of Greek government bond holdings.

Bullion banks Trading Gold in British Pounds today held the price above £1130 per ounce, breaking November's high and barely 5% below the sharp spike to all-time records of September 2011.

"There is always a case to be made for gold," a Singapore gold trader told Reuters earlier, "as long as the central banks keep taking new easing measures, or keep indicating they will take more new measures down the road."

Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher again repeated on Thursday that he didn't agree with the latest round of Quantitative Easing in the United States, telling CNBC that the Federal Reserve's latest policy comments were "talking down the economy".

New jobless claims in the United States last week showed no change from the week before, new data said today.

Continuing claims over the last month have averaged their lowest level since March 2008, according to Reuters.

"Base metals have been exceptionally quiet, with thin volumes and narrow intraday ranges being seen right across the complex," says Thursday's note from Standard Bank in London.

Silver Prices rose alongside gold and the other precious metals this morning, but held below $35 per ounce, some 30% off April 2011's record highs.

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The London Gold Market Report is the daily market review from BullionVault, the world's largest physical gold and silver market for private investors. A full member of professional trade body the London Bullion Market Association, BullionVault publishes the LGMR every day that the market is open, bringing you insider comment and analysis from the very center of the world's $240 billion-a-day physical gold trade, and putting the latest gold price action into its wider financial and economic context

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